McCreery graduated from Garner High School in North Carolina on Thursday, where he was joined by over 400 classmates. The clincher? He graduated with distinguished honors.

The academic milestone follows a whirlwind schedule for the 18-year-old: He'd just flown in from Nashville the night before, where his hit "The Trouble with Girls" nabbed the Breakthrough Video of the Year trophy at the CMT Music Awards.

"I'm glad it worked out that I could do both [school and music]," he told People at the CMT red carpet, revealing that he studied during his downtime while on tour. "It was important to me and my family. Graduation is a big milestone."